Road King II gigging reliability / backup... what do I need?

[prskier17]

I just played my 2nd gig with my RKII over the weekend and I LOVE this amp. I'm in a relatively new cover band and once we've learned enough songs for a full night we plan to gig around 4 times per month. So.... now that I have pretty much my dream collection of guitars, amp, effects, etc., I want to be prepared for issues that can come up while playing live.

During our 1st gig with my new gear, I had an issue which I later discovered was with my MIDI controller and I've since solved (user error, not a reliability issue). During the 2nd show this weekend everything worked perfectly for me, but the other guitarist in the band had some issues with his rig (Marshall TSL 60 stack with some rack gear). He hasn't figured out the cause yet and it could have also been user error... but now I want to know what we need for a quick fix if there is an equipment failure....

1. Should the other guitarist and I have a spare amp in case one of ours fail? Maybe a 2-12 combo solid state or something that isn't too bulky but could get the job done in a pinch?
2. Spare tubes.... OK, so here's what I'm thinking with the RKII. I should have a couple spare preamp tubes. With the power and rectifier tubes, I'm trying to understand why I need backups? Wouldn't it take far less time while playing live to simply reassign the power amp section of each channel to a different tube type, or rotate the pairs of 6L6 and run with only 2? And if a rectifier tube goes just switch all the channels to silicon diodes? Yeah, it would change your tone... but in a live situation I would think this is better than stopping the show so you can install new tubes. What do you guys do????

 

[babow2]

I saw your post. I have been playing live since dinosaurs roamed the earth and have been playing boogie amps for 20+ years. I have never had a Mesa amp die on me live, except once. It was a RK1. the amp didn't die, the footswitcher did, due to thermal overload. We were playing an outdoor gig. It was 100 degrees out and close to 110 on the bricks where we were set up in solid sunlight. After a couple hours, the switching system stopped working and I had to shut the amp down for a few minutes and restart. This was before they installed the fan upgrade. So, as far as reliability goes, you probably don't have much to worry about.

That said, sh@t happens. i always carry a "spare." Many times I use a Pod XTLive. It takes up virtually no space. If my poweramp within my amp is working, I can plug right into it, bypassing the preamp section. otherwise, I use a direct box and go straight into the board. The KEY, and I can't emphasize this enough, is to program up a digital modeler through a PA system, not headphones, as the sound is completely different. If you EQ and set it up on headphones it will suck through a PA. I had a long discussion with Jeff Watson at a gig we did with him, and he showe dup just with a modelling pedal board. Trust me on this one, floor modeler is a great back up if you have programmed it right.

Good luck,
Brent

 

[prskier17]

The floor pod is a GREAT recommendation and I hadn't thought of it. In addition, I could use it for practicing when I travel! I'll have to watch out for a good deal on an XT live. I'd even be tempted to get the bean since it's even more portable if I could find a cheap foot control (maybe my FCB1010 would work?). Thanks for the reply!

 

[babow2]

Yup, I keep my Pod in my study as my practice amp, with an ipod plugged in, so I can work on band material silently. then I just pop it into the car for gigs. I even took it to Mexico when the band played Club Med for a week, and just ran into the board. Viva la Pod. It isn't a real amp and doesn't have the balls, but for a back up, it sure is easy.

Remember though, take the time to program it through a PA and get the EQ and tones right.

Cheers,
Brent